Dr
Derek Fish
(University of Zululand)
01/10/2018, 11:30
Track J - Physics in an Informal and Non-Formal Environment
Workshop
This workshop explores effective physics teaching by evaluating an aspect of the work done by interactive science centres in South Africa. The focus of the study was grade 9 students from three different school groups: urban, township and rural visiting the Unizulu Science Centre (in Richards Bay, South Africa) and attending a science show “Good Vibrations” which presents concepts in sound and...
Dr
Antonia Candela
(Center of Research and Advanced Studies, México)
01/10/2018, 15:00
Track A - Physics at University
Oral Presentation
This presentation is ethnography of physics lessons at the University in order to analyze how the social interaction among teachers and students construct a community of practice (Lave & Wenger, 1991). The work is grounded in Sociology of Scientific Knowledge perspective (Gilbert & Mulkay, 1992) that studies how physicists make sense of their practices in their own voices (teaching physics, in...
Dr
Benjamin Lawson
(l'Université Chrétienne Bilingue du Congo)
01/10/2018, 15:20
Track A - Physics at University
Oral Presentation
Despite vast natural resources and foreign investment, the Democratic Republic of Congo is among the world’s least developed countries. Physics education has a crucial role to play in developing Congo in order to cultivate expertise in the hard sciences and engineering, which is paramount for creating value-adding industries, a domestic technical workforce, and the general problem solving...
Dr
Mark Herbert
(University of the Western Cape)
01/10/2018, 15:40
Track A - Physics at University
Oral Presentation
First year students entering the mainstream undergraduate physics program are at different levels of preparedness which have impact on their learning at the university, in particular, their learning of physics which influence their retention, performance and success in the subject. In a survey done most students reported that they find the physics interesting but difficult and that they needed...
Mr
Nishaal Bhaw
(Unisa)
01/10/2018, 16:00
Track B - Physics at Primary and Secondary School Level
Oral Presentation
In order for the South African education system to compete globally, the best practices of the global education leaders must be adopted to achieve success in STEM education. Policy changes in the education system and Government investment on STEM education must be realised. The Department of Basic Education (DBE) has associated the poor pass rate in the National Senior Certificate (NSC)...
Dr
Roberto Nardi
(State University of São Paulo - UNESP - Brazil)
01/10/2018, 17:00
Track H - Teacher Education and Training in Physics
Oral Presentation
The research presents a longitudinal study that sought to accompany a group of undergraduates students in Physics of a Brazilian Public University, from the beginning until the conclusion of this program, designed to physics teachers and called physics ‘licenciatura’ in Brazil. It aims to understand how the imaginary of these future physics teachers changed during their initial formation and...
Dr
Emmanuel Mushayikwa
(University of the Witwatersrand)
01/10/2018, 17:20
Track H - Teacher Education and Training in Physics
Oral Presentation
Amid the information and technology revolution (aka 4th industrial revolution) many researchers have bemoaned the apparent decline in interest in the natural sciences (especially Physics) exhibited by high school students in many developed and developing countries. Researchers have attributed this decline to the growing alienation between Physics and everyday living. In developing countries...
Dr
Fru Vitalis Akuma
(University of Pretoria)
01/10/2018, 17:40
Track H - Teacher Education and Training in Physics
Oral Presentation
Scientific research and economic development are being threatened by the dwindling interest of learners in science. The incorporation of inquiry in science education can contribute to addressing this threat while fostering scientific literacy. However, in relation to the implementation of inquiry-based science education, serious gaps in the competencies of science teachers have been noted. In...
Ms
JOYCE POTI
(NORTH WEST UNIVERSITY)
01/10/2018, 18:00
Track H - Teacher Education and Training in Physics
Oral Presentation
This study aims at revealing senior phase teachers’ misconceptions about electric circuits. It also seeks to explore the source of the misconceptions amongst the teachers. Available literature is replete with evidence that most of the misconceptions on electric circuits arise from one’s initial knowledge of electricity and hence the need to further explore and probe these claims. A conceptual...
Dr
Vera Montalbano
(Department of Physical Sciences, Earth and Environment, University of Siena)
02/10/2018, 08:30
Track A - Physics at University
Oral Presentation
Reducing the drop-out rate between the first and second year during university studies through the innovation of teaching tools and methodologies has been the new action promoted by a national project in recent years. As part of the interdisciplinary coordination of the project's areas of Siena, we conducted a survey among the students of the scientific degree courses to identify the...
Dr
Ignatius John
(CPUT)
02/10/2018, 08:50
Track A - Physics at University
Oral Presentation
The present papers report on a programme that aims to probe, at a fine-grained level, how students engage with simple DC circuits, in particular with regard to context and sense-making. We discuss the results from an instrument, the Aspects of Circuits Questionnaire (ACQ), in which non-substantive variations of a simple circuit were presented to students. This talk discusses ACQ itself and...
Dr
Inkeri Kontro
(University of Helsinki)
02/10/2018, 09:10
Track A - Physics at University
Oral Presentation
Quantum mechanics (QM) is a complex and often difficult topic for physics students. To make sense of the topic, the students need to grasp both the physical interpretation and the mathematical formulations [1-2]. Quantum theory is based on the notion of vector spaces and their features, which makes linear algebra part of the necessary mathematical toolbox.
At the University of Helsinki,...
Mr
Bako Nyikun Audu
(University of the Western Cape)
02/10/2018, 09:30
Track A - Physics at University
Oral Presentation
The 2018 SAIP Benchmark Statement (SAIP 2018, 22-23) has many similar fundamental “graduate attributes” to the British (IOP 2014) and the American (American Association of Physics Teachers 2011; American Center for Physics 2014; Heron and McNeil 2016) benchmark statements. Some of these graduate attributes are extremely difficult to evaluate in terms of implementation practices (how these get...
Dr
Dominique Persano Adorno
(Dipartimento di Fisica e Chimica, Università degli Studi di Palermo)
, Dr
Nicola Pizzolato
(Istituto di Istruzione Superiore "Pio La Torre", Palermo, Italy)
02/10/2018, 11:30
Track F - ICT and Multimedia Revolution in Physics Education
Workshop
The “Open Discovery of STEM Laboratories” (ODL) has been an Erasmus+KA2 project aimed to implement teacher collaboration in creating and using micro-MOOCs (very short version of Massive Open Online Courses, MOOCs) for the insertion of STEM remote/virtual laboratories in the everyday teaching practices (http://opendiscoverylabs.eu). In order to support educators on creating innovative STEM...
Dr
Shalini Dukhan
(School of Animal, Plant and Environmental Sciences, Faculty of Science, University of the Witwatersrand)
02/10/2018, 15:00
Track B - Physics at Primary and Secondary School Level
Oral Presentation
Investment in Research and Development results in economic growth. Not selecting Science as part of one’s school curriculum places learners at a disadvantage in terms of the range of tertiary qualifications accessible to them when they enter university, and in terms of their career choices.Literature has reported repeatedly that South African learners have the poorest literacy and numeracy...
Prof.
Kevin Goldstein
(University of the Witwatersrand)
02/10/2018, 15:20
Track A - Physics at University
Oral Presentation
Faced with a low pass rate, poorly prepared and disengaged students, we tried a so called “flipped” approach to teaching a 3rd year quantum mechanics course. Rather than having traditional lectures, the students where given online reading assignments on the Perusall platform. The students, could annotated the notes, pose questions and discuss the material with peers on the platform. To...
Dr
Mmantsae Diale
(University of Pretoria)
02/10/2018, 15:40
Track A - Physics at University
Oral Presentation
The type of students we receive at University are digital, have a device at all times in their hands, do not even know how to fast social media. Many of them cannot work without a calculator, though their matric results are excellent. We have been engaged in first year teaching for over a decade, with the number of students majoring in physics increasing. The increase in numbers has also...
Mr
Othy Kasereka Vitswamba
(Université Chrétienne Bilingue du Congo)
02/10/2018, 16:00
Track A - Physics at University
Oral Presentation
There are a number of challenges for proving a strong university education in D.R.Congo. Academia in DRC suffers from a lack of qualified teachers in STEM and access to information is very limited since the internet is both costly and unreliable. In addition, students come from secondary schools with very limited study skills and weak problem-solving skills. Targeting the real cause of these...
Mr
Hassan Junaidu Mustapha
(Abubakar Tafawa Balewa University Bauchi Nigeria)
04/10/2018, 08:30
Track B - Physics at Primary and Secondary School Level
Oral Presentation
ABSTRACT
The study was designed to appraise the senior secondary school physics teachers’ pedagogical content knowledge (PCK). It also determined the relationships between the level of the teachers' PCK and their students' understanding of physics; and the students' perception of their teachers and their understanding of physics. The study employed a survey and classroom observation for data...
Prof.
Jonathan Keartland
(University of the Witwatersrand)
04/10/2018, 08:50
Track A - Physics at University
Oral Presentation
Active learning techniques have been employed in teaching the Statistical Physics III module (final year undergraduate level) at the University of the Witwatersrand since 2009, and have proved very effective. This is evidenced by the excellent pass rates, increased class averages, and obvious retention of the core knowledge presented in the course. More recently (since 2015), enrolment for...
Dr
SORANDRA CORREA DE LIMA
(Federal University of Uberlândia)
04/10/2018, 09:10
Track B - Physics at Primary and Secondary School Level
Oral Presentation
We present here part of a research outcomes that was carried out in a public school, through a partnership with the university, which was willing to advise teachers of the initial years of elementary education, acting in the first and second cycles, in matters related to the teaching of Sciences, particularly physics. The design of the program was determined through the "imaginary formations"...
Dr
Rajesh Khaparde
(Homi Bhabha Centre for Science Education, TIFR, Mumbai, India)
04/10/2018, 09:30
Track E - Teaching and Learning of Laboratory based Physics
Oral Presentation
The teaching and learning of physics is incomplete and inadequate unless students gain a significant experience in experimental physics through a well-planned laboratory courses. The physics laboratory training is supposed to develop in students, a variety of important cognitive and psycho-motor abilities related to experimental physics. It is very well accepted that developing and nurturing...
11.
Exploring the connection between science and business: an approach from the Institute of Physics
Ms
Linsey Clark
(Institute of Physics)
04/10/2018, 11:30
Track B - Physics at Primary and Secondary School Level
Workshop
Physics and business are renowned subjects in their own right, but when combined have the potential to achieve extraordinary things. This concept is something the Institute of Physics (IOP) believes in and has dedicated over a decade to programmes within this area, including a series of entrepreneurship training courses for hundreds of scientists and engineers around the world.
For many...
Dr
Lassana Ouattara
(National Resource Center for Physics Education)
05/10/2018, 08:30
Track A - Physics at University
Oral Presentation
In this paper we present an investigation of what meaning first-year university physics students make of force and motion when discussing elevation, velocity and acceleration during trampoline bouncing. A mathematical analysis of trampoline bouncing is provided in [1,2]. We aim to develop a better understanding of how students can overcome difficulties in understanding those central concepts...
Prof.
Irvy (Igle) Gledhill
(U. Witwatersrand)
05/10/2018, 08:50
Track A - Physics at University
Oral Presentation
The physics community of practice has been active at all levels in promoting the advancement of women. However, the percentages of women in university departments remain generally lower in physics than in the life sciences. Arguments relating to teaching and research loads and work-life balance are comparable in these disciplines.
The Global Survey of Physicists carried out in 2010 by IUPAP...
Dr
Maria Vivien Visaya
(University of Johannesburg)
05/10/2018, 09:10
Track A - Physics at University
Oral Presentation
An analysis of Physics practicals data is presented. In particular, we study the association between gender of students and their overall mark and their Physics practicals marks (Mechanics, Thermodynamics, Optics, and Electricity). Together with gender, all variables are binarized. To visualize performance of students, the qualitative method of plotting a two-dimensional orbit is used to...
Dr
Cristina Mattone
(CAEN S.p.A.)
05/10/2018, 11:30
Track E - Teaching and Learning of Laboratory based Physics
Oral Presentation
CAEN S.p.A. is an important industrial spin-off of the INFN (National Institute for Nuclear Physics), since 1979. CAEN is pleased to present company and its activities in educational field. CAEN brings the experience acquired in almost 40 years of collaboration with the High Energy & Nuclear Physics community into the University educational laboratories by providing modern physics experiments...
Ms
MARIA ROSARIA DEL SORBO
(IS "LEONARDO DA VINCI")
05/10/2018, 11:50
Track E - Teaching and Learning of Laboratory based Physics
Oral Presentation
Student labs of scientific disciplines, in educational practices, aims to build knowledge through recursive reshaping of concepts in a repeated approximation to correct and complete competences of learners. Students, under teacher’s supervision, foresee and plan a path of investigation, reflect and make choices, design models and hypotheses and verify them according to collected and processed...
Mr
Andreas Johansson
(University of Gothenburg)
05/10/2018, 12:10
Track D - Teaching and Learning of Physics Concepts
Oral Presentation
Introduction
What is the relative impact on learning when the abstraction in lessons changes?
Things that are too small to be seen by the human eye need to be visualized to be well understood. Visualisations can be realized with digital tools but at the cost of introducing a higher level of abstraction. The visualizations could also be made by observing and experimenting with an analog...
Prof.
Alan Cornell
(NITheP)
05/10/2018, 12:30
Track D - Teaching and Learning of Physics Concepts
Oral Presentation
Over a number of decades, different versions of the textbook: Fundamentals of Physics by Halliday and Resnick with built-in concepts was utilised for the Physics I Major introductory calculus course. Since 2016, a new textbook: Principles and Practise of Physics by Eric Mazur [1] centred on conceptual understanding and quantitative skills was implemented as a new teaching and learning approach...
